For our money the Light Flyweight division is, by far, the best in the sport today. It has the best collection of fighters, the deepest depth, the best mixture of contenders, champions and prospects, and so many fantastic match ups are actually being made there. This coming Sunday we get one of those great match ups, as IBF champion Felix Alvarado (34-2, 30) takes on Japanese challenger Reiya Konishi (17-1, 7). For the champion this will be his first defense, whilst the challenger gets his second shot at a world title. Stylistically this promises intense action, great back and forth, something really special, though it's hard to see Alvarado not entering as a clear favourite.

The champion is one of the hardest hitting fighters in the sport today, at least on a pound for pound basis. His last 16 bouts have seen him going 16-0 (15) and he has only gone the distance once since suffering back to back decision losses to Kazuto Ioka and Juan Carlos Reveco, both on the road. Whilst no one questions the loss to Ioka, who moved too much and was too smart for Alvarado, there was plenty of frustration in regards to his loss to Reveco, where deductions for low blows, and some weird looking scoring seemed to play a factor.

On one hand Reveco's competition hasn't been the best, he has lost to his two most notable opponents and doesn't have wins over many notable names. In fact much of his career has been spent on the Nicaraguan domestic scene. Saying that however he does hold two very good wins, stopping both Fahlan Sakkrerin Jr and Randy Petalcorin in the last 2 years. Fahlan was stopped in brutal fashion whilst Petalcorin was battered, going down 3 times in round 7. Both those bouts proved that Alvarado can step up to world level, is legitimately dangerous and although not the smoothest of boxers he is aggressive, bringing relentless pressure and breaking people down both mentally and physically. He can be out boxed, but it's going to take a fighter with amazing stamina, movement and ring craft to out boxing him. As for trying to out fight Alvarado, that seems like a silly gameplan, and although there are, maybe, one or two fighters who would fancy their chances we don't think any would be given more than 50-50 shot at winning a war with him.

Konishi on the other hand is more of a volume punching brawler than a power punching monster. A style that probably won't bode well against Alvarado. Konishi first made his name at Minimumweight, winning the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2014 and then the Japanese title in 2017. As the Japaese champion he made 2 defenses before out growing the division and battling against Carlos Canizales for the WBA regular Light Flyweight title, and losing a competitive decision to the hard hitting Venezuelan. Since that loss Konishi has managed to win, and defend, the WBO Asia Pacific title, though has done so against fighters a long way removed from world class.

In the ring Konishi is very much an in your face fighter, who fights at close range, bring the action and tries to close the distance, though isn't actually the quickest fighter out there. It can make his fights very messy at times, with head clashes having occurred in a number of his bouts at domestic level, and can also leave him open to looking silly, chasing quicker opponents around and not getting close. When he does get in range he really targets the body well, and looks to slow opponents down, a tactic that is a pretty clever given his own flaws.

Sadly the lack pop on Konishi's shots are going to make this a very, very tough assignment for him and he's going to either have to find a whole new plan B or struggle in a war with someone so much stronger and more powerful.The body shots that Konishi loves to throw could help him, but we suspect the risks he takes to throw them will be his undoing and Alvarado will simply win the war up close, pushing the challenger around and eventually stopping him.

The Light Flyweight division is, arguably, the strongest ion the sport right now and also the most varied. It has boxers, like Ken Shiro and Pedro Guevara, it has action swarmers like Ryoichi Taguchi and Tetsuya Hisada, it has big punchers like Angel Acosta, Felix Alvarado and Jonathan Taconing and it has insane depth with about 15 world class fighters, many of whom are facing each other. It really is an incredible division mixing talent, depth and styles in a way that no other division is really doing.

This coming Sunday we again see the division look to deliver something special as two talented and unbeaten fighters, with different styles, face off for a world title.

The bout in question sees Japanese swarmer Reiya Konish (15-0, 5) risking his unbeaten record against Venezuelan puncher Carlos Canizales (19-0-1, 16), with both men looking to become the WBA “regular” Light Flyweight champion, and earn a shot at getting a fight with the aforementioned Taguchi.

Fighting at home Konishi will be the fan favourite for the bout, but in the eyes of many internationally he is the unknown having never fought above Japanese domestic level. The 24 year old from Kobe is however someone who is pretty proven having won the 2014 Rookie of the Year and the Japanese Minimumweight title, which he defended twice during a 9 month reign. He won the domestic title last April, defeating the talented Masataka Taniguchi, before defending hit against multi-time world title challenger Shin Ono and mandatory challenger Kenta Matsui. After the win over Matsui we saw Konishi vacate and turn his attention on to the Light Flyweight division, as if to admit his body was struggling to continue to boil down to 105lbs.

In the ring Konishi is an incredibly busy fighter with a style that involves boring forward with his hands flowing freely and a lot of leather being thrown. It's not the prettiest of styles, but it is an exciting one to watch, and he seems to be able to combine his high level of activity with accuracy and toughness. Technically he's not the most talented, or fluid of fighters, but he's someone who looks very tricky to beat, and almost impossible to out work. A big question is whether or not his style will be effective at 108lb or at world level.

Hardcore fans might remember Canizales for his draw, which happened at the end of 2016 when he challenged Ryoichi Taguchi. The bout saw some suggest that Canizales was hard done to, others suggest Taguchi had been the clear winner, but the judges were all over the place with one judge scoring the bout 116-112 to Canizales, another giving the same score to Taguchi and the third giving it a 114-114 draw. The reality, in some ways, is that Taguchi under-performed in that bout, however Canizales is a very solid fighter. The Venezuelan is a naturally heavy handed fighter, with a solid jab, a good rate and a dangerous mixture of aggression, combinations and power.

Whilst Canizales certainly looks incredibly dangerous, and has a record which backs that up, there is huge question marks about his competition. His biggest bout is the Taguchi bout, obviously, and then a win over Robert Barrera comes a somewhat distant second. Other than that, there is almost nothing of note on his record. If anything his record suggests he's merely cleaned out the local scene in Venezuela, taking on limited foe after limited foe. His record might look impressive but it's paper thin and a win over Konishi would be a career best.

Given that both men are aggressive, action fighters who throw a lot of leather we're expecting something very special. Both men like to come forward, and we're expecting to see that happen here in a FOTY contender. On paper Canizales has the edge in power whilst Konishi has the home advantage. On paper Canizales is the fighter more proven at 108lbs, but Konishi the fighter with more experience against good competition. It's a hard one to call, but we're leaning toward Konishi taking the decision in a truly action packed war, which will see a lot of punches thrown and a lot of fantastic, jaw dropping exchanges.

This will be close, great fun and something for the fans at the Portopia Hotel to really savour, and we think those fans will help Konishi take the win and the title.